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Old 01-25-2016, 07:16 AM   #1
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Vanleigh 5th Wheel

I just went to an RV show in Fort Myers FL and came across the Vanleigh Vilano 5th wheel. They are new this year but they have about 75 units out there already. They look great and are rated for fulltime. Does anyone know anything about this unit? We are looking to move into a fiver and are trying to narrow our search which I thought we had done until we ran across this unit. Let me know what you think.

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Old 01-25-2016, 08:42 AM   #2
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The company was started by Leigh Tiffin and his father Van, wth some financial backing from Bob. Leigh is running the company as Van is still with Tiffin Motorhomes.

A little more info here: Startup Vanleigh Producing Vilano Fifth-Wheels | RV Business
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Old 01-25-2016, 12:48 PM   #3
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I looked closely at them as a friend was very interested. Honestly, no different from anything else out there. Still an I-beam frame, same components as anyone else has, no molded rear cap, didn't like the way the underbelly is sealed up with the corrugated stuff like all the cheapies have, etc.
Quality is probably as good as anyone else but I didn't see it as a real stand out. They will be introducing to bigger models which will have disc brakes options according the rep I spoke to.
For what they were advertising their units for, I'd go for an Augusta Ambition. Beautiful rigs. Good luck.
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Old 01-25-2016, 04:14 PM   #4
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Cathy and Paula:

We have a Vilano 365RL. It's not top of the line, but it's certainly not bottom of the barrel. We are very happy with ours. We do have to go back to the factory to have a basement door replaced because it was bowed and it allows rain to to get into the basement (they prefer to match up the graphics rather than send me a new door and have me install). All units have problems and ours is no different. What is different about VanLeigh is they will do whatever it takes to make you happy. We've had a couple of minor issues and each time, they have had a local RV tech come to wherever we are parked to fix the problem. That in itself is worth a lot to me. Good luck on your decision.
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Old 02-01-2016, 07:07 AM   #5
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vanleigh 5th wheel

We have been looking for a 5th wheel for full timing for over a year now. We have gone through 5 different factory tours and lots of shows and dealers and endless reading. We want one that is well built, contemporary interior, 4-season, etc. We came across the Vanleigh in Wichita at the RV show and are totally impressed! We are waiting for the shorter model to arrive at dealers. We want a 5th to be as short as possible so we can travel into areas the larger ones cannot. We had thought we wanted an Arctic Fox but this rig so much better! Much better built, with quality finishes and feels like home. I believe we have found the 5th for us! We retire in 1.5 years and plan to travel for many years. If you have one already, I'd love to be in touch!
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Old 02-01-2016, 03:54 PM   #6
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Kathie:

I don't have the shorter version, but it's my understanding that it is basically the same floorplan as mine but in a shorter version. The advantage of a shorter FW, back when I had one, was that I could maneuver it by myself. As soon as I got one around 39' I quickly realized that I couldn't do it on my own. Thankfully the DW is a patient co-pilot and keeps me grounded.

The VanLeigh folks have been wonderful to work with, they take good care of you. Good luck and enjoy your new rig.
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Old 02-01-2016, 07:59 PM   #7
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vanleigh 5th wheel

Nice floor plan. I could live in that.....
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Old 02-02-2016, 08:09 AM   #8
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We are going to make a visit to the Vanleigh factory in the next few months which is only a couple of hours from here. We saw our first Vanleigh a couple of months ago. It was beautiful! We are waiting for more floor plans to come out and the company age a bit before settling on them for purchase.
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Old 03-05-2016, 07:07 AM   #9
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Been living in ours for 3 weeks now. Selling points for us were:


Dishwasher, large shower with seat, auto level system, lots of counter and cabinet space, desk over fireplace, solid wood window treatments that the cats can't tear up, residential fridge, washer dryer hookups, room for all 4 chairs to set inside the dining slide out, plenty of cargo capacity.


DW and I made this list (it grew over time) a couple years ago and until we stumbled onto the Vilano we were beginning to think that we would have to compromise as everything we looked at had some but not all of what we wanted.


So far we are very happy with our purchase. Have found a few minor problems but so far the dealer (La Mesa Sanford FL) is taking care of them so can't complain.
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Old 03-10-2016, 09:25 AM   #10
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Leigh Tiffin's very fortunate to have grown up in the RV business and already know so many RV dealers that can be wholesale customers in the future.
And I can certainly understand why Leigh would want to get into a business completely separately from Tiffin Industries, a company with well over 750 employees.

I've been wanting to stop by their operation over in Burnsville, 40 minutes from my home.

But I've been wondering what the price point of his average trailer is at this point in time?
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Old 03-10-2016, 05:28 PM   #11
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If I were in the market for a well built middle of the class fifth wheel the Vanleigh would definitely be on the short list. I was very impressed with the fit and finish of the two I looked at. They made a few compromises to meet a certain price point, but they were reasonable and I think they hit the mark. You have the best materials in the world, but if you do a crappy job assembling them it doesn't matter. If you take decent materials and do a good job assembling them you have a lot of value for your dollar. We looked at a fully optioned 365RL and the MSRP on it was around $89,000.

Aaron
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Old 08-10-2016, 07:30 AM   #12
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We purchased the 365RL, traded in a Bay Hill 295RL. We searched for about 3 months and the Vilano had everything we had on our list of requirements.
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Old 11-26-2016, 02:30 PM   #13
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i have the 325.. it is a good unit.unfortunately i have had several problems.. cord wheel only winds up half way, had to patch the roof where there were holes (bad workmanship)deep scratches on the back wall and the floor is buckled where it meets the back wall. i cannot understand how they missed this at the final inspection.. I would of seen them if i looked behind the couch.. again bad workmanship and no quality control..They will fix the problems, but i need to haul the unit to ms. i paid good money for a defective unit..took all the pleasure out of buying a new 5th wheel
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Old 11-26-2016, 02:55 PM   #14
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Originally Posted by little ann View Post
i have the 325.. it is a good unit.unfortunately i have had several problems.. cord wheel only winds up half way, had to patch the roof where there were holes (bad workmanship)deep scratches on the back wall and the floor is buckled where it meets the back wall. i cannot understand how they missed this at the final inspection.. I would of seen them if i looked behind the couch.. again bad workmanship and no quality control..They will fix the problems, but i need to haul the unit to ms. i paid good money for a defective unit..took all the pleasure out of buying a new 5th wheel

We've been looking at them since they came out. Every unit we've seen has some sort of issue that WE can see. How can they not? Even more so if we are seeing issues right away what issues are there that we can't see.

One of the dealers here locally said they are a good company but that right now their focus is on getting the product out and not checking quality. The "good company" comes in because Vanleigh will fix issues and have even done upgrades to earlier units without cost to the customer but they do require trips to the factory. For us that wouldn't be a big deal. We only live a couple of hours for us BUT we full time. Can't afford to put our house in the shop for extended periods yet.


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